FIRE IN THE WOODS. 
273 
the deceitful brilliancy of the flames no longer pleased the eye ; 
wreaths of dull smoke and hot vapors hung over the blighted 
trees, and wherever the fire had wandered there the fresh June 
foliage was utterly blasted. That night Ave could no longer take 
pleasure in the spectacle ; we could no longer fancy a joyous il- 
lumination. We seemed rather to behold the winding coils of 
some fiery serpent gliding farther and farther on its path of evil ; 
a rattling, hissing sound accompanying its movement, the young 
trees trembling and quivering with agitation in the heated cur- 
rent which proclaimed its approach. The fresh flowers were all 
blighted by its scorching breath, and with its forked tongue it fed 
upon the pride of the forest, drying up the life of great trees, and 
without waiting to consume them, hurrying onward to blight other 
groves, leaving a blackened track of ruin wherever it passed. 
Some fifty years since a fire of this kind is said to have spread 
until it enclosed within its lines the lake and the valley, as far 
as one could see, surrounding the village with a network of flame, 
which at night was quite appalling in its aspect. The danger, 
however, was not so great as it appeared, as there was everywhere 
a cleared space between the burning forest and the little town. 
At times, however, very serious accidents result from these fires ; 
within a few days we have heard of a small village, in the north- 
ern part of the State, in St. Lawrence county, entirely destroyed 
in this way, the flames gaining so rapidly upon the poor people 
that they were obhged to collect their families and cattle in boats 
and upon rafts, in the nearest pools and streams. 
Of course, more or less mischief is always done ; the wood and 
timber already cut are destroyed, fences are burnt, many trees are 
killed, others are much injured, the foliage is more or less blighted 
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